Dear Santa letters

I came across this article last week, and I haven't written about it yet because it's not too fun to think about. But in the holiday season, I think it's always relevant to realize that the holidays can mean vastly different things to different people, depending on their circumstances. So without further ado...

With just nine days to go until Santa shimmies down those chimneys, letters to the big, jolly guy are coming in fast and furious.

But this year, mixed in with the letters asking for toys and video games are an increasing number of requests for warm coats, food and help paying the electric bill to keep the heat on.

"The common theme this year seems to be a single mom with young kids, the parent has left -- they don't know who the father is, or the father left -- and they can't pay the bills," said Pete Fontana, head of the United States Postal Service Operation Santa in New York.

It's Fontana's post office in midtown Manhattan -- right across the street from Penn Station -- where most of the letters to Santa arrive each year from around the world. He's expecting about 2 million letters this year.

Post offices in two dozen other locations across the country also accept letters. Most are addressed simply to "Santa Claus, North Pole."

Though many considered last year to be the toughest financially since the economic downturn began, Fontana said, it appears that more people are struggling this year, judging both from the letters and the decreased number of volunteers who sign up to fulfill some of the writers' wishes.

"We had one little girl write in and say all she wants is a winter coat for her mom. Nothing for herself," he said. "We had another letter for grandparents and they wanted to put a turkey with the trimmings for the holiday dinner ... but they couldn't even get their medicine." 

The USPS reads the letters as part of "Operation Santa", which you can read more about (or participate in) here.

As our unemployment remains stubbornly high, it's only natural that people should be feeling more pain this year than last year. The number of long-term unemployed in our country is distressingly high, and the longer a person remains unemployed the harder it becomes to pay the bills. This is especially true with unemployment benefits expiring for the so-called "99ers", for whom Christmas is undoubtedly a glaring reminder of what they don't have.

I'm not exactly a bleeding-heart liberal, and I don't typically support most outright welfare programs (especially not when our budgetary situation is as dire as it is now), but that doesn't make stories like these any less poignant. Christmas might not officially be the holiday where we give thanks, but it's definitely a time to be grateful for what we do have, whatever that may be.

[ABC News]
(h/t Mish Shedlock)